We prove a non-vanishing result for families of
$\operatorname{GL}_n\times\operatorname{GL}_n$ Rankin-Selberg $L$-functions in the critical strip,
as one factor runs over twists by Hecke characters. As an
application, we simplify the proof, due to Luo, Rudnick, and Sarnak,
of the best known bounds towards the Generalized Ramanujan Conjecture
at the infinite places for cusp forms on $\operatorname{GL}_n$. A key ingredient is
the regularization of the units in residue classes by the use of an
Arakelov ray class group.

For a dense $G_\delta$ set of real parameters $\theta$ in $[0,1]$
(containing the rationals) it is shown that the group $K_0 (A_\theta
\rtimes_\sigma \mathbb{Z}_4)$ is isomorphic to $\mathbb{Z}^9$, where
$A_\theta$ is the rotation C*-algebra generated by unitaries $U$, $V$
satisfying $VU = e^{2\pi i\theta} UV$ and $\sigma$ is the Fourier
automorphism of $A_\theta$ defined by $\sigma(U) = V$, $\sigma(V) =
U^{-1}$. More precisely, an explicit basis for $K_0$ consisting of
nine canonical modules is given. (A slight generalization of this
result is also obtained for certain separable continuous fields of
unital C*-algebras over $[0,1]$.) The Connes Chern character $\ch
\colon K_0 (A_\theta \rtimes_\sigma \mathbb{Z}_4) \to H^{\ev} (A_\theta
\rtimes_\sigma \mathbb{Z}_4)^*$ is shown to be injective for a dense
$G_\delta$ set of parameters $\theta$. The main computational tool in
this paper is a group homomorphism $\vtr \colon K_0 (A_\theta
\rtimes_\sigma \mathbb{Z}_4) \to \mathbb{R}^8 \times \mathbb{Z}$
obtained from the Connes Chern character by restricting the
functionals in its codomain to a certain nine-dimensional subspace of
$H^{\ev} (A_\theta \rtimes_\sigma \mathbb{Z}_4)$. The range of $\vtr$
is fully determined for each $\theta$. (We conjecture that this
subspace is all of $H^{\ev}$.)

Let $A_\theta$ denote the rotation algebra---the universal $C^\ast$-algebra
generated by unitaries $U,V$ satisfying $VU=e^{2\pi i\theta}UV$, where
$\theta$ is a fixed real number. Let $\sigma$ denote the Fourier
automorphism of $A_\theta$ defined by $U\mapsto V$, $V\mapsto U^{-1}$,
and let $B_\theta = A_\theta \rtimes_\sigma \mathbb{Z}/4\mathbb{Z}$ denote
the associated $C^\ast$-crossed product. It is shown that there is a
canonical inclusion $\mathbb{Z}^9 \hookrightarrow K_0(B_\theta)$ for each
$\theta$ given by nine canonical modules. The unbounded trace functionals
of $B_\theta$ (yielding the Chern characters here) are calculated to obtain
the cyclic cohomology group of order zero $\HC^0(B_\theta)$ when
$\theta$ is irrational. The Chern characters of the nine modules---and more
importantly, the Fourier module---are computed and shown to involve techniques
from the theory of Jacobi's theta functions. Also derived are explicit
equations connecting unbounded traces across strong Morita equivalence, which
turn out to be non-commutative extensions of certain theta function equations.
These results provide the basis for showing that for a dense $G_\delta$ set
of values of $\theta$ one has $K_0(B_\theta)\cong\mathbb{Z}^9$ and is
generated by the nine classes constructed here.